


You and I Collide

by Babykitsune9



Category: Bleach, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Kurosaki Ichigo, Protective Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Secret Marriage, Slow Burn, Unplanned Pregnancy, Young Yagi Toshinori | All Might, uninjured toshinori
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23447017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babykitsune9/pseuds/Babykitsune9
Summary: Toshinori and Ichigo have both finally reached the age where settling down is expected of them both.The government wants Toshi to enter into a quirk marriage. And Ichigo has other things on her mind.So what happens when a long standing arrangement put together by Nana Shimura comes into play and binds these two together? young, uninjured Toshinori/Fem Ichigo.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo & Yagi Toshinori | All Might
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> People have been bitching at me for changing Ichigo's looks. The hair and eye color thing is because I'm obsessive compulsive.
> 
> But in this story I'm going to make Ichigo either have natural green eyes- a blend between her power and her inner Hollow's yellow- or wear colored contacts instead of glasses. Her hair is black because of her inner Hollow. It's a power-up thing. 
> 
> However she tends to add dark blue coloring to it. It's not exactly a vanity thing. It's simply something that she does because she wants to feel more like a normal person.

This was the stupidest most irresponsible thing her father could have ever done to anyone. And in all the twenty three years that she'd known her dad, he'd done some incredibly _stupid_ shit. But this- this had to be by far the stupidest, most shocking thing that he'd ever even managed to pull.

And now she would have to live with the consequences of it because the damage was already done.

The sly bastard, at the behest of _Kisuke_ \- of all damned people- had actually slipped a marriage license in with her home work when she was fourteen and now she was legally married to a complete and utter stranger.

A stranger that she'd never even fucking met- and probably didn't even _know_ about her existence anymore than she'd known about his up until now.

And to make things even worse, Kisuke had somehow gotten a hold of the man's...sperm and- _Ugh_ , the very thought of it made her want to _scream_ with rage. And had somehow _impregnated_ her with it while she'd been in the hospital healing up from her appendicitis, and having her ruptured spleen removed.

She had known that there was something oddly suspicious about the way that the two of them had been acting towards her. Not letting her train or go out to help her friends fight when she was needed. Her dad had subtly been feeding her bigger portions of food without her noticing. And both men had been conning her into taking folic acid 'for her health'.

But to find out about everything like this. She wanted to _murder_ them both.

However at the moment she was physically being held back by Rukia, Renji, Chad and Uryu. All of whom were suing every ounce of their power and strength to keep her from doing something really, really drastic in retaliation. Otherwise she would have ripped the two assholes to shreds already.

"Now, now, calm down Ichigo and we'll explain everything-" Kisuke said, trying not to show just how disturbed he was by her display of temper.

"Go fuck yourself!" She snarled over Rukia's head. _How dare they!_ She seethed. How dare the two of them do something as unforgiveable as this to her and then expect her to just fucking sit back and grin and bear it! She didn't give a fuck about their stupid excuses. Wrong was wrong!

And they had wronged not just her and her unborn *parasite* but the poor man that she was now connected to, big time. They deserved every ounce of pain and suffering that she could rain down on their pathetic heads!

"Language!" Her dad snapped at her. Finally having enough of her 'tantrum'. As if she didn't have every damned right to be pissed at them for this stunt. She tried to lunge at him, intending to tear out his throat, but Chad had her wrapped tight in his arms and Uryu and Renji both damned near had her in a choke hold.

If she tried to move too much a specific way, she'd have her throat squeezed too much and would likely wind up unconscious. And that shit wasn't happening again.

If it did, who knew what the morons would do to her next.

"Ichigo," Her dad started to say. "We did this for a reason. Just please, please hear us out before you freak out on us any further. It isn't good for the baby for you to be so wound up."

She bared her teeth at him, making sure that both men could see the slight lengthening of her fangs coupled with the murderous look in her eyes.

She was close to reaching her breaking point. But she was nothing but a fair person.

She'd hear them out- though she was loathe to admit it. And while she was at it, she'd wait for an opening so that she could send both of the retarded bastards to hell.

* * *

Toshinori dropped his coffee cup as he quickly turned to look at Gran Torino. His blue eyes wide, his expression shocked. There was no way that he'd just heard the old man right. Right? After all, he was fairly certain that he would have known if he had a _wife_ somewhere in the world.

However Gran Torino wasn't smiling. Nor did he look as if he were joking any. In fact the man looked...rather perturbed. Even a little bit _irked_. But most of all he looked like he wanted to punch him.

Toshinori wet his lips nervously before finally saying, "C-Could you please say that again." He wanted to make absolutely certain that he'd heard the old man right before he freaked out any.

"I said, it's time for you to go and collect your wife."

"I don't have a wife."

"Yes, you do." The elder said with a frustrated sounding sigh before quickly explaining. "Nana arranged everything before she died. She knew that since you're...well, you- that inevitably the government would try to force you into a quirk marriage in the hopes of you passing you're quirk down to one or two of your children. She wasn't wrong, now was she?" The old man said as he gave the younger man a pointed look.

Toshinori's mouth opened and closed for several moments as he tried to get his voice to work before finally squeaking out, "N-Nana? How?"

"Remember that 'nondisclosure agreement' that she had you sign? You know, to keep your silence about how you got your quirk?"

Toshinori got a sinking feeling in his gut as he stammered out. "I-It w-wasn't an-" Gran Torino shook his head as Toshinori continued to stammer like an idiot. "I-I was t-tricked. By Nana? I-I'm r-r-really _married_?!" The look of utter disbelief on the younger man's face was telling.

 _Ah, now it's starting to sink in._ Gran Torino thought in bemusement as the man practically staggered over to his desk and threw himself in his chair and buried his face in his hands for a moment.

He was shaking. Or at least his hands were. Which Gran Torino thought was understandable, after all, marrying- much less having any sort of family had probably never even crossed Toshinori's mind. Which in part was probably due to the fact that he'd thought that he'd die long before something like this could even occur.

It was simply something that he'd thought that he would never have a chance to have. Something that he'd worked hard and sacrificed for others to have. But never himself.

Frankly if Gran Torino wasn't so irked by Nana pulling such a fast one on the boy _without_ his knowledge- he'd probably have laughed at him. Maybe congratulated him and slapped him on the back.

"Start from the beginning," Toshinori finally said. "How did this happen and why? Who is the young lady?"

Gran Torino finally perked up a little bit at the question of who his unknown bride was. He was betting that Toshinori would be quite surprised to learn that Nana had married him off to her eldest niece.

Sighing because this was going to be a rather long and involved story, Gran Torino started at the beginning and told him her reasons for secretly binding him to her niece.

He didn't bother to tell him that the girl had signed the marriage license when she was just _fourteen_ \- Toshinori was upset enough at the moment. And finding out that he'd been secretly married to a child just might send him over the edge. He _did_ however tell him that Nana chose the two of them specifically because she had honestly thought that they would do well together and make each other happy.

Which was true. She really had.

Once Toshinori seemed to have calmed down a little bit, and seemed to be mulling things over- he asked again about the girl causing Gran Torino to grin in delight.

He'd gone to meet the girl out of curiosity. She'd been a sweet child when he'd first met her. All wide eyed and innocent. Until she was good and riled and then she turned into an utter _spitfire_.

He'd both _seen_ and _heard_ of what she could do when in such a mood. She seemed to have taken after Nana personality wise. Which was good since that quality of hers would keep him from growing bored of her.

Yes. She'd keep Toshinori on his toes and undoubtedly entertained well into his twilight years. Once the man finally got his head out of his ass and decided that he wanted to meet her for himself, that is.

"Her name is Ichigo Kurosaki. She's currently twenty three and is the eldest daughter of a well known and respected doctor in Kurakara Town. Her hobbies are training, reading, cooking, and listening to music. She has several different jobs. Two as a self defense and martial arts teacher at a nice dojo that is owned by one of her school friends. And one as a ghost writer. She works on a little bit of everything from novels to movie scripts. And is currently working on some of her own original stories in-between jobs."

"That sounded rehearsed." Toshinori pointed out once he finished talking.

"What do you want from me, boy?" He groused before then saying in a slightly defensive tone. "I'm old and I have to write things down just to remember them."

Toshinori merely thinned his lips in an effort to stifle any sort of amused response because he knew that if he so much as even let out a chuckle, the elder would brain him with his cane. Instead he merely sighed and asked, "You've met her?"

"Met her, talked to her-" He wasn't going to tell the man that he'd seen her break a man's jaw with her wicked right hook. He figured that it would be best if Toshinori figured that out for himself eventually. "Observed her interacting with her family and friends."

"What's she like?"

"She's nice."

It wasn't a lie. The girl was nice. So it wasn't as if he were totally misleading Toshinori any. He just...wasn't exactly sure how to sum up Ichigo's personality in one word.

Toshinori gave him a suspicious look that caused his hackles to rise some and he growled out. "What? She _is_ nice. She's really pretty too. Honestly if she wasn't already married to you, I would snatch her up myself. The woman is nothing _but_ wife quality."

"You'd drive her mad." Toshinori said, his expression slightly... _piqued_? After all the elder had just given the young lady- his wife- a compliment. And the man knew that the elder never gave those easily unless he actually meant them. So yeah, he was interested in learning more.

Especially when instead of getting angry by his comment, Gran Torino let out a bark of laughter and needed to take several moments to settle back down before saying with a grin. "I probably would." As he silently added, _I'd be dead within an hour. But what a way to go._

"So...she's nice... Anything else?"

"I have pictures and some video's of her if you want to look them over."

"How'd you get those?"

"Her dad and sisters were very accommodating. They sent everything to me whenever I asked about her. I have pictures and home videos spanning the past few years."

"Anything more current?"

"Tons. I have this one picture in my wallet of her in a kimono. It's really nice." Gran Torino said as he fished his wallet out and pulled the picture just mentioned out, and held it up for the younger man to see.

Toshinori leaned forward a little bit and gently took the photograph from him so that he could study it.

The young lady in the picture was rather lovely.

She was breathtaking if he were to be totally honest with himself. Her long dark hair was pulled back from her heart shaped face, leaving only small wisps to fall around her ears and cheeks fetchingly. Her lips were curved into a pretty smile, her green eyes dancing with barely disguised mirth.

She looked to be of average height and petite build.

And she was wearing a pretty sky blue kimono with white/pink plum blossom patterns on it.

"She is very pretty." Toshinori said as he finally tore his eyes away from the photo, uncertain as to how he was supposed to feel about the young woman. All he could think was, _This is my wife? Really?_ She looked so...small and fragile. _Breakable_.

One night in his bed just might kill her. Surely someone was playing a joke on him. He just couldn't quite figure out who.

Starting to hand the photo back to the elder, he was surprised when he refused to take it from him and finally asked, "What is her connection to Nana?" Since it seemed to be the one thing that the elder hadn't truly bothered to explain to him.

"She's Nana's niece."

If Toshinori hadn't been interested in her before, he certainly was now. Gran Torino could tell by the sudden shift in the man's expression that he had his absolute and undivided attention.

He tended to get this way whenever something important to Nana was brought to his attention. He also tended to become a tad bit... _possessive_ when it come to his fallen master's prior projects. As if taking them up in her name somehow helped to wipe his conscience clean of the blood that he felt was on his hands.

"I didn't know that she still had any living relatives."

"She does. Ichigo and her two younger sisters. Though I think that she might have claimed their father as her little brother by default."

"I see." Toshinori said in a thoughtful tone before then asking, "What relative-" He was trying to ask what relative was directly related to Nana. Something that Gran Torino must have anticipated before he cut him off.

"The girl's late mother, Misaki. She was Nana's little sister."

"Late mother?"

"Yes, she's dead now." Gran Torino said looking somewhat saddened to lose such an important link to his late friend. Toshinori looked saddened to hear of Misaki's death as well before finally asking him.

"When am I supposed to collect my wife?"

"I think you have a little bit of wiggle room. From what I understood from the call that her father made to me this morning, she's being informed about you and her current marital status right now as well."

"She didn't know?" Toshinori asked in disbelief. The elder thinned his lips and nodded his head in conformation and noted that Toshinori looked more than a little bit... _displeased_ to know that he wasn't the only one who had been married against his will. "Of course she didn't." He said almost bitterly. "How else could this entire fiasco have happened? Alright, you win. Give me a few days to make some arrangements with work and to fix up a place at home for her."

"Very well. I'll give you her contact info and you can either arrange a meeting with her somewhere, call her, or email her and talk."

"That would be fine. Thank you." Toshinori said as he watched the elder grab a note pad and an ink pen from his desk and quickly wrote everything down before then excusing himself to head home.


	2. Chapter 2

It took him nearly a week to make all of the arrangements necessary so that he could go and collect his...wife. And despite the fact that he'd spent at least three of the days out of that week drinking himself into a damned stupor, he had to say- he felt that he was handling the new life altering change quite well.

Very maturely.

He hadn't yelled or screamed or _maimed_ anyone. Which was surprising even to him if one took into account just _how_ this had happened. As well as the fact that he hadn't known anything about it.

I mean really, had Gran Torino expected him to be happy to have been bound to a total stranger against his will? He knew that the elder was getting up there in age- but there was no way that he could have actually expected him to be happy about this.

Still...he was resigned to make the best of things. If only out of consideration for Nana and the fact that she had gone to such disturbing lengths to secure a young lady for his life mate. And who knew. Maybe the two of them would actually hit things off and _like_ one another once they got to know each other a little bit.

Even if they were never quite lovers or anything then maybe they could be good friends? Or was that too optimistic of him? He didn't know. Sighing, he checked the bedroom that he'd fixed up for her.

It was a room that was next to his own room. And though there was a wall separating the two rooms, there was a door that led to his room. He'd figured that it might be a good idea to somehow have their rooms connected. Just in case something happened.

Like a nightmare or a villain attack or something since it wasn't totally unheard of for either of those things to happen. He justified the door leading to his room by telling himself that he was just trying to look out for the young woman that was _technically_ his.

It had nothing at all to do with the fact that his wife had direct blood ties to Nana. Or the fact that he could be overly protective and possessive.

Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.

Scrubbing his face with his hands he muttered, "I'm an idiot." as he turned and began walking down the hallway towards the front door. He still wasn't thoroughly convinced that someone wasn't playing some sort of prank on him. But whatever.

He'd figure things out in time. He was sure of it.

Walking out of his home, he moved over to the limo that was awaiting him and gave his driver a polite greeting before climbing inside. Minutes later, he was staring out the window at the passing scenery of the city wondering how Ichigo would react to seeing him for the first time.

Would she be shocked? Surprised? He scrunched his nose up in a disgusted manner as he wondered if she were a fan girl of his hero persona. Oh god, don't let him be married to a fan girl! He'd never live the embarrassment down.

* * *

To say that Ichigo was trying to adjust to things would be an understatement. Between finding out about her 'arranged' marriage and her pregnancy- she was so mentally exhausted that it wasn't even funny.

Sure, she was still pissed. At her dad and Kisuke. But she couldn't exactly be pissed at the poor guy that she was saddled with. No matter how much she was worried about what kind of person he was.

All that she'd been told was that he was a really nice and special guy. Nothing more and nothing less.

Was she supposed to be happy with that description? It sounded as if it were just any other generic description of a person. She needed to know his name, his age, his physical characteristics! What was his personality like? Just something _more_ than 'he's nice and special'.

Sure, she wasn't a shallow person or anything. She may not be totally into dating or anything that ran along those lines. But knowing those things was important. Weren't they?

Sighing as she leaned back from the toilet, where she'd just spent the past fifteen minutes dry heaving, she tiredly rested her back against the cabinet and just sat there trying to catch her breath as she heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Ichigo?" Rukia said her name questioningly. She glared at the door for a second or two as she silently debated with herself about whether or not she should bother to answer her friend. She was still sort of carrying a grudge against her for putting her to sleep when she'd been pulled off of her dad and Kisuke, kicking and screaming like a lunatic, the other day.

As if they hadn't deserved being beaten nearly to death.

_The dumbasses_. She thought darkly as she ran her tongue along her teeth. Inwardly cringing a little bit at the remnant taste of vomit. _Ugh_. She was barely two months pregnant with her parasite and she was already hating it. Huffing softly, she put her hand over her stomach and muttered to her unborn child.

"Your dad had better be a fucking delightful and indestructible man. He'll die and leave you alone with me if he isn't." And gave an small smile as her baby sent her the impression of being worried. Both for her and it's dad.

Patting her stomach she made an amused sound and then slowly stood up and flushed the toilet.

Rukia hadn't left her spot outside of the door, though her silence might have easily been mistaken for her leaving. So she was right there when Ichigo finally stepped out into the open again.

"Are you alright?" She asked as she brushed by her.

"I'm fine Rukia. Just...trying to deal with everything." Which was true. She _was_ trying to deal with everything. But it was difficult considering how suddenly everything had been thrown at her. A baby was one thing. Especially since she hadn't fucked anyone.

But a husband too.

Sighing, because she could feel the beginnings of a migraine she slowly made her way to her bedroom. Rukia was right behind her. Probably wanting to help her sort herself out by talking about everything. But honestly, she just didn't want to talk to anyone about anything.

Not the baby. Not her secret husband. _Nothing._

She was just...numb and tired enough at the moment not to really give a damn about what anyone wanted. She just wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask?

Stepping into her bedroom, she made a beeline for her bed- not bothering to try and shut her door since Rukia would have been hit in the face by it if she did. So naturally while she was collapsing onto her bed face first, her friend was making herself at home in the small swivel chair at her work desk.

"Ichigo…" Rukia started but then paused as the other woman turned her head just enough to shoot her a menacing glare. "I know that your upset about this...situation."

Rukia didn't know the fucking half of it.

Ichigo was more than just upset. She had been thrust into a situation that she wasn't sure that she could get herself out of. And sure, it wasn't exactly the first time that it had happened. But at least she'd known what she was walking into most of the other times it had happened.

And she'd still gone along with it _willingly_. That was the crux of the matter here. She'd been willing all of the other times.

She hadn't been willing _this_ time. This time her ability to choose had been ripped away from her as if she were...nothing. Not even a person.

It was more than just upsetting.

After everything that she'd done. All of the fights that she'd fought and won over the years- she was still reduced to nothing and betrayed by those closest to her.

How was she supposed to forgive them for this? How was she supposed to ever trust them again?

Burying her face back in her pillow, she decided to ignore Rukia's presence. After all, it wasn't as if she could understand how she felt. She knew that she was trying. But _trying_ and _doing_ were two very different things.

Rukia seemed to understand. And even got up and petted her hair to get her to turn her head and then placed a kiss on her cheek once she did before she then left her alone.

And once she was finally gone, and the door to her room closed, Ichigo gave in to something that she hadn't given into ever since she was a small child.

Sadness. Overwhelmingly, madding sadness. There was so much of it that she could have choked on it. She couldn't breathe. She felt as if she were suffocating.

Why? Why did these things always happen to her? Why couldn't anyone ever think before they did something? Why was she always the one who picked up the pieces and suffered the consequences? She didn't understand. _What did she do to deserve this shit?_

The first sob that escaped her, startled her. And was quickly followed by several more that she tried to muffle with her pillow. It had been years since she'd last really cried about anything. But here, alone with her thoughts- it felt as if it were the only thing that she could do.


	3. Chapter 3

It took noon when the limo finally reach it's destination. And while he was fairly hungry since he'd skipped breakfast that morning in lieu of reaching Kurakara Town- he was also anxious to meet his wife. _Maybe I can see if she would like to go out and eat something for lunch?_ He thought to himself as he quietly climbed out of the limo.

If Ichigo was amenable to the idea of going somewhere with him, then they could use it as a chance to get to know one another a little bit. He'd even let her choose the place they'd go because he didn't know what she liked. And he wanted her to like whatever she got.

Shuffling from foot to foot for a moment he stared at the quaint little two story home for a moment before taking a step towards it. Walking up to the door, he raised a hand to knock and hesitated for a moment as he tried to think of what he should say.

The polite thing to do would be to knock and introduce himself. But he wasn't sure exactly what his wife knew of him. So...he was sort of at a loss about what to do here.

He didn't know how long he stood there. But it must have been for a couple of minutes. Just long enough to allow someone to sneak up on him.

Frowning at the door as if it had just insulted him, he was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he totally missed the young lady that had been walking his way with some plastic bags in her hands. And upon finally reaching him, she reached out and tugged lightly on his cape, causing him to jump a little bit and twist his head around to look at her.

"Excuse me, but are you okay?" She asked curiously. He blinked at her before quickly falling into his hero-esque persona and smiling at her.

"I'm quite fine, young lady. Why do you ask?"

"Well, your standing in front of my home looking...lost." She said with a small frown.

He looked at her with a startled expression and then looked back at the house and started to open his mouth to inquire if she really lived there but- but didn't want to appear daft to her. So he abruptly shut his mouth and looked down, finally taking note of the fact that she had some grocery bags.

Heavy looking ones.

"D-Do you need any help carrying those?" He wasn't just asking to be polite. Nor was he just asking in an effort to be a hero. He was just...really, really at a loss here and seemed to have forgotten his manners until now.

She gave him a bright smile and held a couple of bags out to him.

He gave her a small shy smile as he carefully took the bags from her tiny hand and waited for her to grab the others from the ground at her feet and move to enter before quietly following her in.

Weirdly enough, the very first thing that he noticed about the door was the fact that he didn't have to bend down just to enter the home. Nor did he have to stoop over or slouch to keep from bumping his head on the ceiling any.

The small hallway was a little bit of a tight fit for him. Especially since the walls brushed against his arms somewhat. But once he was out of there- the rest of the house looked...nice. Cozy even.

Cream colored walls with matching carpet and furniture. There were little shelves that held pictures of the family. And a few of some of their friends as well. He even managed to spot several family photos of his wife and two young, small girls.

One of whom was the one that he was helping.

"Excuse me, Mister." He heard her say, the sound of her voice drawing his attention back to her.

"Yes, young lady?" He replied, his tone still polite but somewhat questioning.

"Would you like some tea for helping me?"

He opened his mouth to reply when his wife chose that exact moment to come walking down the small set of stairs across the room. His eyes landed on her and his mouth went totally dry and his heart hammered in his chest.

Jesus, the photo that Gran Torino had shown him hardly did her any justice at all. Ichigo was a _breathtakingly_ lovely woman.

She was rubbing at her eyes as if she'd just woken up, and he gait was slow. And almost hesitant. Finally she dropped her hand away from her face and blinked in surprise as she finally noticed him standing there.

He wondered what she must think of him, standing in her...uh- Was he in the living room or dinning room? There were no walls to separate the area- dressed in his All Might, hero outfit. Complete with his cape.

_Is she impressed to have a pro-hero in her home? Or is she weirded out?_ He wondered curiously as he noted that there was no change in her expression before mentally sighing. She was either weirded out by him and his choice in outfit. Or she simply didn't give a damn _who_ he was.

"Yuzu, did you get some ginger ale and saltines?" She asked, not bothering to take her eyes off of him. Which was fine, because he wasn't- no, he _couldn't_ \- take his eyes off of her either.

"Is your stomach still bothering you?" Yuzu asked, looking a little bit upset.

"Some. The ginger ale and crackers should help to settle it." Ichigo said, finally turning her head a little bit. Breaking eye contact with him for a moment.

"Alright!" Yuzu chirped as she dug the items out of one of the bags and set them on the table for her.

"Thanks Yuzu." Ichigo said in a grateful tone as she reached for the ginger ale and picked it up, intending to try taking a sip. But the moment that she popped the top off of the drink, and smelled it- she nearly dropped it. The smell of ginger in the drink turned her stomach dangerously and she found herself quickly slamming the drink down on the table and running for the kitchen.

"Ichigo!" Yuzu shouted at her, wondering what was wrong only for the sounds of hacking and coughing to greet her ears a second later as she groaned out. "Aww. I haven't even washed the dishes yet!"

Toshinori stood there with a stupefied expression on his face. He didn't know what the hell was going on. But he was starting to slowly figure it out.

The nausea and ginger ale and saltines were all a pretty decent clue. But he still felt the need to ask anyways.

"I-Is she..." Pregnant? Could she be? He wondered, feeling slightly shocked. Or...did she just have a weird stomach bug?

The girl, Yuzu looked at him oddly and said, "She's pregnant." Causing him to slowly, and mutely nod his head. Because he didn't know exactly what else he was supposed to do here.

Gran Torino hadn't mentioned anything about her dating someone. He never said anything about her being _loose_ either. But then again, he hadn't really asked the elder to elaborate specific things pertaining to this. So... the question now was, what the hell was he going to do now?

He'd come to collect his _wife_. Not...an extra person. Especially one as tiny and fragile as an unborn baby.

Now don't get him wrong, he liked babies. Hell, he _liked_ children, period. It was maybe one of his most redeemable qualities. But this- this was asking a lot even of him.

And it wasn't because he was upset or even angry really. Even he knew that since she hadn't known about him, just like he hadn't _known_ about her. She hadn't actually cheated on him. After all, the two of them would have had to have a _relationship_ of some kind for something to be considered cheating.

And he definitely knew that he couldn't hold any relationship that she'd had _before_ , against her. It would be wrong to. Still, coming all this way to find out that his wife was pregnant was a _lot_ to deal with.

Finally the sounds of Ichigo emptying her stomach ceased and she slowly ambled back into the room looking like death warmed over. Any color that her face had had before had been drained. Leaving her looking exhausted.

"Sorry, Yuzu." She rasped out, looking more than a little bit embarrassed by the fact that she'd gotten sick so suddenly. "I'll wash the dishes for you in a little bit. I...just need to sit down right now."

"It's okay Ichigo," Yuzu said quietly as she walked over and hugged her once she was sitting down. "I know that you can't exactly help it any."

She gave Ichigo and quick squeeze to reassure her that everything was okay and then pulled away from her and turned her attention back to him. He wasn't totally sure what his face was doing, but he was at least ninety percent sure that he was giving her a deer-in-the-headlights look as she said, "I'm sorry for ignoring you Mister. Would you like me to fix you that tea now?"

"Uh...y-yeah. T-Tea would be...great." He said awkwardly. She gave him a dazzling smile and then chirped,

"Okay! I'll fix everyone some lunch while I'm at it. You just sit down and get comfortable since I'm sure that you and Ichigo have a lot to talk about!"

He gave her a vaguely alarmed look as his wife lifted her head and looked at her sister oddly as the girl practically skipped out of the room. Leaving the two of them alone together.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the awkwardness of toshinori and ichigo's interactions are slowing me down.

It barely took him two minutes to cave and tell her who he was. And what the hell he was doing there once she turned her confused eyes to him. Which was just plain _pathetic_ for him.

And worried him greatly because if this somehow got back to Gran Tornino- he'd put him through the fifth circle of hell in an effort to retrain him on _how_ to hold his tongue under stressful situations.

"So your my-" She started to ask him if he was really her husband when he cut her off.

"Yes." He said, feeling as if his heart was going to leap right out of his chest at any moment now.

She gave a small, harsh sounding laugh and reached up to rub at her forehead as if it was hurting before then saying, " _Wow_. Y-You must be really disappointed right now."

"Disappointed?" In truth he wasn't at all disappointed. The situation wasn't ideal for either of them. But that didn't mean that it was disappointing. It was more overwhelmingly complicated and just a tad bit shocking.

But hardly disappointing.

"About this. _Me_. Everything." She said bluntly. He grappled for words for a moment. Trying to think of something at least somewhat comforting to say to her and instead blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"You don't think much of yourself do you, dearest."

He didn't really mean anything by it. Not really. It was merely something that he had observed in her. Her actions and words just now spoke volumes of having very little self esteem.

She flinched so violently that one would think that he'd actually hit her.

As it was, her reaction to his words left him nearly speechless. And maybe just a tad bit alarmed as well. He'd just... _never_ had anyone- especially a woman react to him in such a way before.

It hurt.

It almost literally physical, _hurt_ him to see her react like that.

"Sorry. I-I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine." She said quickly. Trying to pull herself together enough to hold a decent conversation with him. "Recently just about everything upsets me. So..."

He nodded his head in understanding and tried a different approach. Thinking that maybe she would like to talk about the baby instead for now. Expectant mother's were generally very chatty when it came to their babies. And maybe he could figure out who the father was and what she felt for him if she talked about it some.

"So...you're pregnant."

She flinched again. Though this time it was barely noticeable to him. But only just so as she licked her lips and slowly said, "Yeah." Her tone was filled with dread. As if she half expected him to start verbally tearing into her or something.

He didn't like that she must be thinking that of him. But he wasn't sure how to react without snapping at her. So he just pasted on his warmest most friendly smile, and tried again. "How far along are you?"

"Nearly two months."

"D-Do you know what you want to do?" He asked curiously.

So far, she seemed less than thrilled by the prospect of being a mother. And he was beginning to wonder if perhaps she'd been a victim of sexual assault. If so then her reaction to his words before as well as her hesitancy to answer his questions about the baby would make much more sense.

Though he found himself _desperately_ hoping that that wasn't the case. But even if it was, he'd still take care of her and support her.

"I guess that's entirely up to the father." She said, tiredly.

"I see." He said, unsure of what to feel right then as he asked. "Have you not told him of the child?"

"I have to have a paternity test done before I can even _prove_ that the baby is one hundred percent his. I don't really like the idea of saying, 'Hey this is yours'. And being called a slut or something. So everything is...rather complicated at the moment."

"I see." He said again, as he watched her slender shoulders slump in defeat.

Sighing, because he didn't know what to do, much less say to make her feel better- especially since she seemed to have gotten the most terrible end of things. He simply reached out and gently took one of her small hands in his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

He might have tried to tell her that everything would be okay, but her sister finally returned with his tea and some food for them. "Here you go! Sorry for the wait Mister."

"Toshinori. My name is Toshinori." He corrected her. He wasn't that damned old and anyways she was his...sister-in-law. She should call him by his name.

She gave him another dazzling smile as she set the plates of food down in front of them both before scampering off again. Pausing only for a moment by the stairs across the room to ask him to make sure that Ichigo ate something before she disappeared.

Once she was gone, he turned his attention back to his wife and noted that she'd already pushed her plate away.

"Is your stomach still upset?" He asked as he slowly retracted his hand.

She sighed as she replied. "A little bit."

"Do you think that you can manage to eat?"

She looked at the plate of food that her sister had left for her and then looked back at him before reluctantly nodding her head. "Maybe... I'll give it a try."

He gave her an encouraging smile and gently nudged her plate back into place with his fingertips and sat there and watched her worriedly as she took a small bite of one of the sandwiches on her plate. After which she simply sat there for several moments to see whether or not she'd be able to hold it down.

Once she was sure that she was going to be able to eat it, she made quick work of polishing it off and then just sat there. Looking at anything but him as he ate.

"Are you still hungry, dearest?" He asked after a few moments of unbearably awkward silence.

"No. I'm fine."

"Do you have any questions you want to ask me?" He finally asked her once he'd finished off his own meal and gently pushed his plate aside.

"You said that your name is Toshinori?"

"Yes."

"Okay, um… What do you do for a living? Does it have something to do with the...outfit that you're wearing now?"

"As a matter of fact, it does. I'm a pro-hero." He said proudly, wondering if she would freak out and start acting like a fan girl on him. But she didn't do anything more than blink at him and frown a little bit before asking,

"So you're job is to run around in PJ's and a cape?"

He sputtered for a moment and then gave her an oddly insulted look that made her lips twitch a little bit as if she were trying to hold back a giggle.

"Oh you are just the worst sort of person." He muttered without any heat, eliciting a small laugh from her that made him grin a little bit before asking gently. "Is there anything else that you want to ask me?"

"I can't think of anything, no." Ichigo admitted after a heartbeat or so.

"Nothing at all?" He asked in a slightly surprised tone as she shook her head no. He had expected her to bombard him with questions about _everything_. Things like where did he live, what was his favorite color, how much did running around in his PJ's pay...ect.

Lord knew that he certainly had some questions of his own. But he supposed that for now, he would leave things as they were.


	5. Chapter 5

Once he told her that he was going to leave for a little bit so that she could maybe grab a nap- and mentioned that he'd be back later to maybe take her and her family out to dinner. Ichigo frowned at him, but seemed to understand the _why_ of things.

After all, despite not yet broaching the subject of taking her with him back to Musutafu to live, she was far from stupid. She knew that she would have to begin preparations to move away. But she also seemed to know that he wanted to sit down with everyone and meet them.

Partially to get to know her and her family a little bit better- after all, observing a person when they're near those that they love is an easy way to tell what sort of person they are. And partially to assure everyone that she would be _alright_ in his care.

"Could you point me to a decent hotel?" He asked as he started to get up from his seat. She thought for a moment before slowly saying,

"I have a better idea. Instead of using a hotel- why don't I see if one of my friends can put you up for a couple nights?"

He gave her a peculiar look as he seemed to mull over her suggestion. Knowing that there was at least some merit to it. Plus friends were an extended family of sorts. Getting to know a few of them would let him see what sort of people she surrounded herself with and would likely be just as enlightening as meeting the rest of her actual family.

Plus friends rarely thought twice about sharing blackmail material and funny stories about one another. It was another way to get to know her without having to ask her questions that she wouldn't want to answer.

"That...actually sounds like it might be fun." He said with a smile after a moment or so of weighing the pro's and con's. Ichigo hummed, already onto his little scheme as she held up her index finger and then stood up and walked over to the phone and grabbed it.

It didn't take her more than a minute or so to reach Chad. And even less time to explain what she needed of him before he was agreeing to take Toshinori in for a while.

She politely thanked him, and told him that she'd bring her husband over as soon as he was ready to leave. Since she suspected that he had an overnight bag or something stuffed in the trunk of his car that he'd need to grab before she led him to the apartment anyways.

Once she hung up the phone, and turned to look at him, she was startled to find him standing there looking rather pleased with himself with a large duffle bag hanging off of one of his massive shoulders.

"I'm ready to go."

"I can see that. When did you-"

"While you're back was turned," He said before tacking on with a dopy grin. "I'm excited to meet your friend. What's his name?"

"His name is Yasutora Sado. But everyone calls him Chad." Ichigo said with a fond smile as she brushed by him. He followed her back out of the house firing off questions about 'Chad' before happening to glance down and realizing that she wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Uh...Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"You aren't wearing any shoes. Is that wise? I know that you probably know the area best but don't people toss glass bottles and such out into the road from time to time? Won't you get glass stuck in your feet?" He asked in a concerned tone as she glanced at him.

"I'll be fine. It's rare that I ever suffer any sort of glass related injury when I'm walking around like this. Besides, I often run around without shoes at random hours of the day and night." She didn't bother to tell him that she'd often times spent hours out in the rain, sleet, and snow without any shoes on, fighting.

She didn't want to freak him out any.

After all, it was one thing for her to have a nervous breakdown. She didn't want to deal with him having one as well. She was stressed enough as it was.

"So what does your friend do for a living?"

"He's a musician. He does gigs at clubs and bars. He's hoping to one day get signed to a record company."

"Really? Is he any good?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah. He's... _awesome_ at it. This is just my opinion, but the music industry is really missing out."

"You must really care about him to say that."

"I say it because it's true. Chad is a great guy. He's a hard worker, diligent, and spends a lot of his spare time perfecting his skills where he can. He'd be a great addition to any record company."

"How long have you known him?"

"Since I was twelve..." She said before then tacking on. "He saved me from nearly having my skull bashed in by some thugs."

He focused his blue eyes on her, his expression shifting ever so slightly to something dangerous. "Someone attacked you?" He wasn't sure how to feel about this. Sure it had happened when she was twelve, but the thought of her being attacked at all sent every protective instinct that he had into a frenzy.

She let out a small laugh akin to the one she'd given earlier. It wasn't a nice sound. It sounded cold, harsh and just a tad bit cynical to his ears. In his opinion, no one with Nana's blood- much less his own wife- should ever make a sound like that.

It was positively _painful_ to hear.

But he knew enough from his years of hard training to understand how to read between the lines. "You've been attacked by people repeatedly. Haven't you?"

She didn't bother to answer him. Which was really all the answer that he needed from her to know.

Setting his jaw, he reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to him. It was meant to be a protective gesture to show others that if anyone was foolish enough to think that they could attack her again, they would know that they would have to go through him.

But it may have wound up being more possessive than protective.

They got some weird looks from a few people that they did pass on the street. And some others certainly gave them a wide berth until someone, a young man of average height and build decided to run up to them and try and _pounce_ on Ichigo.

And shockingly, got clotheslined for his efforts.

Toshinori couldn't help the way his jaw dropped open as he gaped at the young man lying on the street groaning. He hadn't even _seen_ Ichigo move until she'd had him by the throat with her arm.

"Dammit, Ichigo..." The guy rasped in-between coughs as she circled him for a moment before stopping and holding her hand out to him. Toshinori barely managed to gather his wits again before she was pulling the guy up off of the pavement.

"Why do you feel the need to clothesline me all the time?" The guy practically whined.

"Why do you feel the insane need to lunge at me like a crazy person?" Ichigo shot back at him as he rubbed his throat.

"I do it because we're friends and I'm happy to see you- Whoa!" He said as he finally noticed Toshinori standing there. His eyes got as wide as saucers and his own jaw dropped open a little bit as Toshinori quickly sized him up. "Holy shit Ichigo! D-Do you know _who_ you're standing next too?!" The guy nearly shouted excitedly.

"Yeah, a guy who likes to fight crime in his PJ's."

Toshinori huffed a little bit and wondered if Ichigo was referring to him as such on purpose to get a rise out of him, or if she truly believed that when the young man gasped in outrage and grabbed her and started to shake her. _Violently_ enough for Toshinori to look vaguely alarmed about whether or not she might begin vomiting again, and reach out and quickly snatch her away from him.

"That will be enough of that, young man." He chastised, the young man had the good grace to look abashed and muttered out a quiet apology as Toshinori placed Ichigo back on her feet closer to him. Making sure to keep a large hand on her shoulder as the young man seemed to begin mentally shifting gears again.

Going from embarrassed to excited all over again.

"Sorry, sorry it's just not everyday that a person runs into one of their favorite heroes! And Ichigo is sort of a savage. Honestly I think she was raised by a pack of wolves or something. I don't think that I've ever met _anyone_ who didn't know who you are!" He babbled.

Toshinori wasn't sure what to say to that. So he just gave the young man one of his trademark 'hero' smiles. "It's always nice to meet a fan." He said kindly.

"I'm sure." He laughed before then asking, "Hey can I have your autograph?" He started to pat himself down for something for Toshinori to sign before quickly turning to Ichigo and whispering none too discreetly, "Ichigo! Don't panic. But I don't have anything for him to sign, let him sign you're boobs so I can use my phone to take a picture of it!"

Toshinori blinked, feeling the beginnings of anger stirring within him at the young man's outrageous request of his wife. He was a heartbeat away from telling the young man no. But Ichigo beat him to it by kicking the guy's legs out from under him at the same time she flipped him over her shoulder.

He hit the ground in a tangle of arms and legs, groaning in pain all over again as she muttered, "Leave me out of your weird crap Keigo, and just go home and get a pen and paper like a normal person."

"O-Okay." He wheezed as she reached out and took hold of Toshinori's wrist and gently tugged him along as she stepped over him and started walking again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this story idea stuck in my head for the past few days of Toshinori upon retirement, gets a live in nurse who he thinks is the devil. Because she spends a majority of her time, pranking him. 
> 
> and he inevitably decides to prank her back. which leads to a lovely relationship with her that keeps them both on their toes until death.

Meeting Ichigo's friend, Chad was an experience.

Especially since the young man was as tall and nearly as muscular as Toshinori, himself. Which was a treat for the blond man since he didn't get to meet others around his size very often.

Chad was also very quiet spoken as opposed to Toshinori's booming baritone of a voice. His voice seeming to adopt a soft rumbling quality that made it seem as if the young man were growling whenever he spoke.

Which was certainly something that his wife should have warned him of since after being let into the man's home, he then had him say something to him that gave him the impression that he was angry with him for some reason.

Ichigo seemed to think that Chad speaking to him, and making him think that he'd done something wrong, and freaking him out was kind of funny.

Chad seemed to think so a little bit too since the young man had let out a pleasant rumbling laugh, that had earned him a small glare from the blond as it occurred to him- that both Ichigo and Chad were apparently two people cut from _very_ similar cloths. And both had very eerily similar sense of humors.

Toshinori made a mental note to really _watch_ the two of them whenever they spent any time together in his presence. It would be the only way that he could stay ahead of them and their mischief.

Making himself at home on Chad's couch, he watched as the dark haired man steered Ichigo over to sit next to him before seating himself in a recliner across from them and lacing his fingers together and just stared at them for a moment. Toshinori had to resist the unbelievable urge to squirm.

"So...your Ichigo's husband?" He asked.

Toshinori gave him a nervous looking smile and quickly shot Ichigo a pleading look. He got the weird sense that her friend was about to give him a shovel talk. And he wasn't all that certain what he should do.

Should he sit there and just grin and bear it and reassure the man that there wouldn't be any need to _murder_ him at any point in time? Present or future? Or should he see if Ichigo could stop him before he really got started?

Shooting Ichigo another look, he saw that she looked bored. So he wouldn't be getting any help from her. _Dammit all_. He thought as he slowly replied, "Yes. Yes that would be me."

Chad's lips quirked a little bit and he looked at Ichigo and said in a almost gleeful tone, "He's a nervous one. I like that in my future victims."

Causing Toshinori to sputter while his anxiety spiked a few notches as Chad grinned at him.

And upon seeing that grin Toshinori wondered just _what_ the hell he'd gotten himself into. The younger man raised a finger and looked towards Ichigo again and smiled. Curious to know just what the man was smiling about now Toshinori turned his head and blinked at what he saw.

He must not have realized just how exhausted Ichigo was before they had left her home. If he had known, he would have encouraged her to stay and go ahead and take that nap that he'd mentioned earlier. Instead of having her walk him several blocks to her friend's home.

Ichigo was half curled up, half leaning on the arm of the couch, utterly dead to the world.

Chad chuckled softly, drawing Toshinori's attention back to him as he slowly stood up and moved to collect Ichigo in his arms. "Sorry about making you so nervous," The young man said as he lifted his wife up off of the couch. "I figured that this would be the best way to get her to relax and doze off."

"O-Oh."

"I'm going to put her in your bedroom so that she can sleep for a little bit." Chad said and waited until Toshinori nodded his head in understanding before he then disappeared out of the living room for several minutes. Upon his return he was setting an alarm on his wrist watch. "It's barely two fifteen in the afternoon right now so she should be able to sleep uninterrupted for a few hours." Chad said as he finished setting the alarm on his watch.

"O-Oh," Toshinori said lamely before then asked worriedly, "Will she be alright?" And then awkwardly added. "I was sort of wanting to take her and her family out for dinner. I-I mean- I can postpone if you think I should! So that she can rest a little bit more. But.." He was fidgeting by the time he seemed to run out of words, his face positively burning with embarrassment as he mentally berated himself for sounding like such a jerk.

"You wanted to make an impression on them and get to know them a little bit." It wasn't a question. Merely a statement of fact.

"W-Well, we are kind of family now. And I know that they don't know me very well-"

"It's Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin that don't know you well. Isshin has been keeping track of you and you're career ever since his wife's sister first approached him with the _idea_ of marrying Ichigo to you," Toshinori looked surprised to hear this. He supposed that he shouldn't be, given that his wife was someone's precious daughter. But he was nevertheless. "You must have really impressed him for him to go through with the woman's suggestion."

"I-I see." Toshinori said, feeling just a little bit relieved that Ichigo's dad had kept track of him. That was one less person- not to mention one of the most important people- that he'd have to make an impression on. "Well...w-will Ichigo be okay?"

"She'll be fine. She'll wake up in a couple of hours and feel totally disgusted with herself for needing a nap in the first place. And she'll probably bith endlessly about it too." Chad said in amusement. "I'm going to grab a beer. Do you want one?"

"Yes, please." Toshinori said with a small chuckle.

Chad nodded and left him again and returned a few seconds later with a beer for them both. Handing one to Toshinori, he sat himself down next to the man and popped the tab on his drink before randomly asking, "Ya wanna hear stories about Ichigo as a kid? I know a bunch of good ones."

"Yes! Tell me everything." Toshinori said with an excited grin as Chad started talking. Regaling him with stories about his wife's awkward teenage/young adolescent years that had Toshinori laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry- I've been working on this off and on for the past day or so. still sort of trying to figure out how to get toshi and ichigo together- together. cause that's going to be a trip.

Chad and Toshinori must have exchanged stories and stuff for a while. Because after what seemed like mere moments to Toshinori, was actually a few hours. During which, the younger man had not only bonded with him a bit but had also helped him to pick someplace nice to take Ichigo and her family in a little while as well.

And all too soon, Chad's watch was chiming. Alerting both of them that it was time for Ichigo to awaken.

"Should I go and wake her up?" Toshinori asked curiously as the younger man finished off his third beer. Setting the empty can down on the coffee table, Chad shook his head no and sat back as he said.

"Nah, I can hear her moving around already. So she'll be out in a minute or so."

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask him how he could hear her moving around when all he could hear was car horns and stuff coming from somewhere outside. True, the sounds weren't _blaringly_ loud. But they should have covered up any muffled sounds that Ichigo might have been making in the other room.

Not only that, but the walls of Chad's home were thick and meant to ensure that any loud noises wouldn't disturb anyone else both within the apartment or outside of it.

Sure enough a minute or so passed before Ichigo came shuffling out of wherever she'd been and entered the living room and took a moment to glance at the two men.

Chad had this weirdly patient smile on his face. And Toshinori had this bizarre look like he'd just been caught stealing cookies from a cookie jar or something by his mother. Like he couldn't make up his mind between singing like a canary and proclaiming his innocence or throwing the other man to the wolves.

She looked away from them for a moment to glance down at the coffee table and narrowed her eyes a little bit when she saw at least five beer bottles sitting there, and then looked back at the men with an expectant look on her face.

Chad's smile got wider and Toshinori seemed to sense _something_ and suddenly blurted out in a very serious- but not the least bit mature sounding- tone, "He made me do it."

Chad cracked up as Ichigo simply blinked at him. Her expression somewhat incredulous as Chad practically howled with laughter. Because having her husband tattle on him like a little kid on a playground really was _very_ funny. Especially since the blond man was built a little bit bigger and sturdier then he was.

"Yeah, I can tell that he really twisted your arm." She said as she reached out and ruffled his hair to show him that she wasn't pissed. Drinking was normal for guys when they were bonding.

Toshinori blinked at her as her small hand ruffled his messy blond hair before she stepped over his feet and lightly pinched her friend on the cheek and muttered a soft and vaguely warning sounding, _"Be. Nice."_ And then shuffled off to the kitchen to get herself something to drink.

As soon as she was in the kitchen Chad turned to him and asked, "Did you really think throwing me to her mercy would save you?"

Toshinori shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I thought that it was worth a try."

"See if I ever drink with you again." Chad said as he shook his head. Ichigo rejoined them and sat down in the recliner across from the couch and sipped her drink as Toshinori said,

"Please tell me that you're drinking juice and not some form of liquor."

"It's apple juice," Chad informed the suddenly fretting blond sitting beside him. "She knows better than to drink alcohol right now."

Toshinori got a visibly relieved look on his face that Ichigo tried hard to ignore. Because it hurt her that he thought that she might do something so irresponsible as drinking while she was pregnant. The only thing that seemed to lessen the ache blooming in her chest was the reminder that he didn't know her well at the moment and they were both struggling equally.

Toshinori took his eyes off of her so that he could dig out his cell phone and then started to ramble at her about his plans for the evening, unaware of the fact that she wasn't listening.

Chad must have noticed the slightest look of pain that she hadn't been able to mask, because he thinned his lips and cast Toshinori a warning look that the man didn't notice before saying softly, "Ichigo…"

"I'm fine." She said quickly. Her voice suddenly drawing Toshinori's attention back to her, a frown marring his handsome face as he asked worriedly.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick again? Do you need to rest some more?"

"Nah. I'm good." Ichigo said as she set her empty glass down as she asked. "What did you decide on?"

Toshinori studied her for a moment, not entirely believing her when she said that she was fine but began speaking again about his plans. He'd picked out a nice restaurant. It was a little bit pricy but that wasn't a huge issue. He was more concerned about whether or not she would be able to eat anything if they went there.

However Chad had pointed out earlier that the place had some really good stuff that was easy on a person's stomach.

So...maybe she'd be fine?

Holding his phone out to her, he allowed her to take it from him, noting the strangely surprised look on her face as she did so. "This is where you want to go?" Ichigo asked as she looked over the place that he'd chosen. It was a nice restaurant. Maybe one of the ritziest and most expensive paces in Kurakara.

"Yes, I thought it might make a good first impression on...my new family." He said awkwardly, looking just a tad bit panicked. Ichigo frowned at him but said nothing. If he wanted to act as if her sisters were going to eat him alive then...why bother to try and assure him otherwise.

Besides, it wasn't as if he were totally wrong anyways.

Yuzu may have already met him. But Karin _hadn't_ and she was the more feral of her siblings. Not to mention that she shuddered to think what Rukia would plan for him once she found out that he was in town.

She supposed that if she were in his place, she'd be freaking out too. The poor guy was going to be walking the gauntlet the whole time he was in town.

"D-Do you think that you will be able to hold any of the food down if we go there?" Toshinori asked hesitantly. Ichigo's eyes flickered to him again for a moment and she made a thoughtful humming sound as she took a moment to think as Chad chimed in,

"They have stuff that's easy on your stomach Ichigo. A lot of it's also very nutritious."

Ichigo took a moment to look up the restaurant's menu on Toshi's cell and after doing a quick scan of the items, smirked. "You're a good minion Chad."

He sighed. "One must do what one must for the sake of their master." He said in an overly dramatic aggrieved tone as she handed Toshinori back his phone. The blond looked back and forth between them for a moment with a funny expression on his face before asking suspiciously,

"D-Did the two of you ever-"

Quickly catching onto Toshinori's question, they both cut him off with automatically. _"Ew._ She's like my sister." Chad said with a disgusted look.

"No."

"Alright...just checking." Toshinori said with a nod as he watched the two of them for a moment. Chad did something with his hands that Toshi couldn't quite catch. And earned a eye roll from Ichigo before she suddenly stood up and said,

"I'm going to go get ready. Chad do me a favor and call the house and tell Yuzu to help Karin get ready too."

"Okay. But only if you wear the sapphire dress." He said absently.

"Dude, blackmail. Really?"

"Just wear it." Chad said as she left the room. The moment that she was gone, Toshinori couldn't help but ask,

"She has clothes here?"

"She sometimes crashes here when she's stressed and can't get any rest at home."

"Oh."

"Worried?" Chad asked as he cast the blond man a weird look. Toshinori mulled the question over for a moment before deciding that no, he wasn't worried. A little bit put out by the fact that his wife and the younger man had such a close bond. But not worried.

He'd have to have a relationship of some sort with her beyond just sharing a name before he could actually be worried about someone _stealing_ her from him. Right?

"No."

"Good," Chad said almost a little bit too happily before tacking on. "The last time a guy tried to get close to her because of jealousy- he wound up with his jaw broken when he got a little bit too handsy with her."

Toshinori looked both shocked, and pissed at the same time as he asked, "You broke his jaw?"

Chad merely smirked at him, and dialed Ichigo's sister's number and decided to let the blond find out for himself.


End file.
